


When Hot Messes Collide

by Shesgayfellas



Category: The Wilds (TV 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, jock/troublemaker!Toni, maybe a little bit of angst but not too much, prep/nerd!Shelby
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:07:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28110618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shesgayfellas/pseuds/Shesgayfellas
Summary: Toni needs to get her grades up to stay on the basketball team. Shelby's volunteering as a tutor. It would be perfect, if they didn't hate each other.
Relationships: Shelby Goodkind/Toni Shalifoe
Comments: 31
Kudos: 301





	1. Chapter 1

** Toni **

“Are you serious?!” Toni fumed.

This was absolutely ridiculous. Completely absurd. She could feel the searing rage building up in her chest; rising up through her bones and clawing at her throat.

“I am dead serious, Shalifoe”, Coach Reed responded, her stern glare unyielding as she berated Toni. “I have received complaints from parents, your teachers and even the principle. If your unsportsmanlike conduct and disrespectful behaviour wasn’t enough, you seem to be failing almost every one of your classes.”

Toni scoffed, which received a sharp scowl from the coach, as if punching one asshole opponent counted as _unsportsmanlike conduct_.

“The principle wanted you off the team,” this caught Toni’s attention, “you are incredibly lucky that I managed to reason with him. You stay on the team if- and only if- you cut out the childish behaviour and get your grades up. Do you understand?”

Toni’s fists were locked in tense knots, her nails nearly drawing blood from her palms. She wanted nothing more than to smash Reed’s wrinkled face in. To scream at her how unfair this was. Her jaw clenching shut, she managed to swallow the pure, fiery anger on her tongue and nod her head.

“Good. You have been assigned a student tutor to help you, your timetable will be emailed to you.”

“A tutor?!” This was one step too far. The probation was one thing but she definitely didn’t need some know-it-all teacher’s pet to babysit her.

“Yes, a tutor. And if you want to stay on the team, I suggest you attend the sessions”. Coach Reed warned, firmly. She gave Toni one more scolding glare, then marched out the door; leaving Toni alone in the empty locker room.

As soon as the coach was gone, Toni felt the blistering fury she’d been trying to suppress consume her. The stabbing pit throbbed inside her chest and her mind was overcome with the numbing heat of crushing rage. Swarmed by the uncontrollable emotion, she raised her firsts and smashed it into the nearest object, a locker.

Over and over she pounded at the solid metal.

This was completely unfair.

They couldn’t kick her from the team.

She wasn’t being childish.

And she _definitely_ didn’t need a tutor.

Eventually, she slumped onto the floor, back against the wall, her knees brought tightly to her chest. As the anger drained, she was only left with exhaustion, guilt and a throbbing hand.


	2. Chapter 2

** Shelby  **

“You’re not actually signing up for that, right?”

The sudden, deep voice from behind startled Shelby, jolting her hand and nearly causing her to drop her pen. Swiftly regaining her composure, she turned from the sign-up sheet she had been studying to the snarling, 6ft boy standing over her.

“I told you, Andrew,” she said, beaming at her boyfriend, “it’s gonna look excellent when I start applying to colleges”.

Andrew groaned, he stretched his arm across Shelby’s shoulder. She tensed at the touch.

“Between the Christian Union and pageants, I barely see you anyway. Now you’re gonna be tutoring some loser? Are you even gonna have time to watch my games?”, the football player moaned, obnoxiously strutting down the corridor and dragging Shelby with him.

Shelby giggled, doing her best to lean into her boyfriend’s side and give passers-by a friendly grin. “Of course I’d never miss your games, silly”.

They made their way to the cafeteria, where their large group of friends were gathering. Shelby opened the pre-prepared salad from her bag and began making mindless chatter with the group.

She’d finished her lunch and was nearly ready to go to class when a girl next to her tapped her arm.

“Hey Shelby,” she whispered, “I think you’ve got a bit of lettuce in your teeth. Just thought you’d want to know before you head to class”.

Shelby thanked the girl then excuse herself; covering her mouth as she headed towards the bathroom- the empty one in the third floor.

Once she stepped into the deserted bathroom she was alone. No bustling corridors, no overbearing boyfriend, no chattering friends; alone. Quickly and methodically she removed her false teeth- rinsing them the way she has been for so many years.

Use clean water only.

Don’t bend the plastic.

And don’t, ever, look in the mirror.

Not for the first time today, she failed the last step.

Looking into the cracked, dusty mirror- like a low-budget crystal-ball, framing her imperfections- she grimaced at the sight.

Her father’s words still shuddered in her mind,

_“If it can be fixed, the pain’s worth it”_.

The black, irregular gaps in her mouth consumed her gaze, they mocked her.

Fake smile.

Fake boyfriend.

Fake home.

Fake life.

Was it even worth it?

She stepped out the bathroom and walked to class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keeping up my tradition of posting at 3am. Hope you're all enjoying this so far. Honestly, I found this chapter a lot harder to write because I relate to Shelby's issues a lot less than I relate to Toni's anger. Let me know what you think :)


	3. Chapter 3

** Toni **

While it was no longer uncontrollable, Toni’s anger had not disappeared. The hot, volatile stabs of rage had been replaced by a numb, thumping pain in her skull. Her life had been defective from the get-go and now it was imploding around her.

How long before she was kicked off the basketball team? It was only a matter of time; she’d never been very skilled at getting good grades or staying out of trouble. Honestly, it was a miracle that Coach Reed had let her off with only a week of lunch detention after she destroyed that locker yesterday.

And once she was off the team… well there wasn’t much point in her staying in school. Maybe she’d drop out and find a job. Maybe she’d work hard enough to get her own apartment, instead of living on Martha’s floor. Or maybe she’d end up in rehab alongside her mom.

That grim thought lingered, chanting in the back of her mind as she went through her grey and hazy day. Basketball practice was ruthless (Reed was definitely trying to punish her), lessons were excruciatingly boring and her hand was still throbbing from the day before. She didn’t even get a chance to see Martha at lunch as she was stuck in stupid detention.

By the time the bell sounded and students began to rush out the school gates, Toni desperately just wanted to get away. She considered leaving; walking to the nearest town and getting some food or going back to Martha’s and crashing on her make-shift bed. But she couldn’t. She had her first tutoring session today and the one way to piss Coach Reed off more than she already had would be to not show up.

Glumly, Toni pulled her oversized jacket around her and began traipsing to the room shown on her timetable. She wasn’t going to skip the session but she sure as hell wasn’t planning to get there on time. As she trudged down the corridors she began to wonder who her tutor would be. What kind of lifeless, self-important snob volunteers to tutor someone else in their free time? Does anyone really like the sound of their own voice that much? Were there people who genuinely got satisfaction from watching other people struggle?

Toni’s mental tirade continued as she reached the classroom and swung open the door. _Well, prepare for an hour of literal torture,_ she thought as she entered the room. She looked up.

_Oh shit._

“You’re late”, the stuck-up blonde announced, as Toni stood frozen in the doorway.

Shelby Goodkind. Of all the people. Shelby Goodkind.

This day could literally not get any worse.

While they didn’t know each other well, the pair had crossed paths a handful of times during the three and a half years they’d spent in high school together. Notably, the time they’d been forced to move seats in freshman History after spending an entire lesson bickering over Christopher Colombus, or the time Toni had “accidentally” smacked Shelby with a tennis racket in a sophomore gym class, or, in junior year, when Shelby had reported Toni to their head of year after she vandalised all the Christian Union posters. In all, their previous interactions had not gone well and Shelby was certainly the last person Toni wanted to be spending three hours a week with for the foreseeable future.

Toni shrugged and wandered over to Shelby’s desk, slumping into the seat next to her.

“I didn’t want to come”, she replied, as monotonous as possible. Just because she had to be here, didn’t mean she had to act happy about it.

Shelby starred at her, shocked by Toni’s bluntness. After a brief moment, she decided to ignore the comment and the basketball player’s cynical attitude.

“Well, I assume you’ve planned what content you want to go over today?”, Shelby questioned, offering a bright but forced smile.

_Jesus Christ,_ Toni thought, _how was this girl so infuriatingly optimistic?_ Her voice was so cold and cheerful; it was like every sentence was meticulously formulated to sound as much like a cult induction video as possible. And that- God- Damn- Texas accent. The Sothern drawl was actually painful in Toni’s ears. Were they in some outdated Western movie? Who actually speaks like that?

Shelby was speaking again. Toni wasn’t listening.

Everything about her was just so… perfect. Her clothes were neat and stylish and they fitted her exactly. Whenever Toni past her in the halls she was laughing and chatting with her endless friends and that big-headed boyfriend. She literally had everything.

Perfect smile.

Perfect boyfriend.

Perfect home.

Perfect life.

“Gosh darn it, Toni! Can you at least try to listen to me?!”.

Toni glanced up at the sudden outburst. At least Shelby’s smile had gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you've all been enjoying it so far! I'm really bad at replying to comments but I do read them all and I've been really appreciating the feedback.


	4. Chapter 4

** Shelby **

As soon as Shelby saw her tutoring timetable, she knew it was going to be a rough few months. Toni Shalifoe? Really?

Perhaps she was judging a bit too harshly given their pretty limited previous interactions but something about the girl just got under Shelby’s skin. Maybe it was her cocky attitude and her blatant disregard for the school rules. Maybe it was the way the basketball captain seemed to erupt into a destructive rage at the slightest trigger. Maybe it was because Toni obviously hated Shelby. Whatever the case, she did not want to be spending three hours a week with the girl.

Of course, Andrew had laughed when she’d expressed her annoyance at the situation. “Didn’t you literally sign up for this?”, he’d remarked with a callous smirk. He was right. She had volunteered to be a student tutor. She could quit at any time. She could just go home.

_Go home._

On the way to her designated classroom, Shelby had tried to convince herself it might not be too bad. If Toni had decided to join the tutoring program and if she was actually willing to show up to the sessions, then she must be somewhat committed to her education.

Shelby was very quickly proven wrong.

First Toni was late, then she was just rude, then she didn’t even bother to listen to Shelby. Every time Shelby would begin to explain the time plan or ask Toni which areas she needed help with, the girl would just stare through her with those fierce, fiery eyes- clearly not taking in a word.

After the third unsuccessful attempt of smiling patiently and trying to engage Toni in conversation, Shelby had had enough. Clearly neither of them wanted to be working together. Clearly Toni had not chosen to be here (Shelby suspected she’d been forced to attend the sessions by a teacher or parent). But that didn’t mean she was allowed to be this… uncooperative! This… difficult!

“Gosh darn it, Toni! Can you at least try to listen to me?!”, she snarled, raising her voice much louder than she normally would.

Toni finally looked her in the eyes.

Shelby had expected anger; that blistering fury that Toni seemed to store within her bones and release in violent bursts. To her surprise, the girl relaxed further back into her chair, her jaw unclenching and gaze forming into one of… _amusement_.

“What’s it to you Texas? We both know you couldn’t give a shit about my academic success. I’m guessing you’re just here to prove to _Daddy_ what a perfect fucking saint you are?”, she mocked. Her posture was casual but the snarl in her voice and her clenched fists told Shelby that she was on the verge of unleashing her thinly veiled aggression.

Likewise, Shelby could feel her own icy rage, frosting over her better judgement.

“You don’t know anything about me!”, she snapped; launching out of her chair and causing Toni to instinctively flinch away.

For a second she felt guilty, noticing the other girl’s reaction, but soon Toni had knocked over her own chair and was standing facing Shelby.

“Don’t I?”, She seethed, approaching closer to Shelby, “Doesn’t everyone know how lovely and perfect Shelby fucking Goodkind’s life is? You have your three-story house on the nice side of town and all of your cute little beauty pageants that you’re always posting on your Instagram. You go and watch your star football player boyfriend’s games with all of your popular friends and then you and your happy, nuclear family go to church together and it’s all so fucking great!”

Toni’s face was inches from her own; her eyes viciously glowering into Shelby’s.

Despite Toni’s hostility, Shelby was determined to hold her ground. Whatever the basketball player and everyone else in this damn town thought about her life wasn’t true. They had no idea.

“You don’t know my life, Toni”, she hissed, “Maybe it’s a whole lot harder-“

“Hard?!”, Toni cut her off, “Don’t… talk… to me… about…. hard!”.

As she spat out each flaming word, she raised her arm, her hand clenched in a tight ball. For a moment, Shelby was convinced Toni was going to hit her. Then, Toni turned to the nearest table and shoved it, using all her strength to send it flying across the room, knocking all of the books Shelby had so neatly laid out to the ground.

With one last venomous look, Toni turned and stormed out of the room.

Shelby sunk to the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this update took so long! I'll try and make sure the next chapter comes out pretty quickly. Let me know if you're enjoying it so far and if you have any suggestions for future chapters :)


	5. Chapter 5

** Toni **

The pattern was always the same, the one constant throughout Toni’s life. She’d spend hours, days, weeks- if she was lucky- restraining the anger; doing everything she could to stay in control. It would blaze against her ribcage and blister her skin- sparking at the slightest sign of danger. Then, when she couldn’t suppress it any longer, it would explode. Yelling at foster parents, punching other kids, destroying valuable items; anything to get the volatile flames out of her bones. Once she’d caused enough chaos to feel any sense of peace, it would go. Every part of her drained from her body, until she was a lifeless mess of exhaustion. She would look back at the destruction, feeling the thick nausea of regret; knowing that she’d messed up and predicting exactly what the reaction would be.

The worst part was always the reaction. Sometimes her own anger would be reflected directly back onto her. Foster parents would scream at her, hit her or just kick her straight out; her own mother (on the few occasions she was around) would threaten or throw things at her; and she could barely count the number of times she’d been beaten up by the friends or older siblings of classmates she’d just punched.

Other times she was met by a swift and methodical response. Her social worker would avoid her eyes as he monotonously announced that she would be moving placements; teachers would sigh and hand her her twelfth detention slip of the month. The least they could do was care enough to be mad at her.

The reaction that hurt the most was the disappointment. Even Martha, who loved her like a sister, would flinch away and tell her “I’m done picking up the pieces for you”; Coach Reed would shake her head and rant about how she was letting the team down; she remembered Regan’s sympathetic eyes before she’d driven away, leaving her alone on the side of the road.

And they were right. That was the painful part. It was Toni’s fault.

After spending an hour curled into a ball in the corner of an empty supply closet, clutching her arms tightly around her knees to stop the shaking- she had walked slowly back to Blackburn’s house. She wiped away any ghosts of tears before slipping in the back door and sulking quietly into the house. Even as Martha and Mrs Blackburn questioned her on the tutoring session and noted her withdrawn behaviour, she maintained the claim that she was fine, then headed to bed early.

As she stared at the dark ceiling, late into the night, she simply felt numb. Five years of playing basketball- five years and it was over, all because of Shelby _fucking_ Goodkind. Of course, Shelby couldn’t go a whole hour without irritating the absolute shit out of her, she just had to be such a condescending, entitled bitch all of the _god-damn_ time and, of course, Toni hadn’t been able to control her temper. Of course.

The cold acceptance was slowly settling over her mind- this was it.

She spent the next day waiting. Waiting for an email, for a lecture from Coach Reed, even for a punch from Shelby’s egotistical boyfriend; any form of repercussion. Yet it didn’t come. When it got to the end of her last period and Toni still hadn’t heard anything, she cautiously headed to her assigned study room. It wasn’t that she believed Shelby would actually be there, there was no way the annoying Texan would agree to be around her again, but… well she wasn’t sure. Maybe there was part of her that still had hope. Maybe she just need proof.

Tentatively, she reached the classroom and opened the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, someday I might actually post an update reasonably quickly. 
> 
> Let me know your thoughts so far and anything you'd like to see happen next :)
> 
> My Tumblr's Internally-glitching btw.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this at like 3am, it's total trash. Also I'm pretty dyslexic so let me know if there are any spelling mistakes or anything.


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